A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Snow Storm Comfort: Paula Deen's Hot Chicken Salad

I first had this recipe about 20 years ago at my cousin, Ann's, table and  everyone in our family loves it as a casserole with a salad for dinner, on Liza Ashley's Angel Biscuits as an appetizer, or with crackers as a snack.  Chilled chicken salad is great but hot baked chicken salad is just a delicious and versatile and very warming on a cold winter's day.

Unbelievably, I couldn't find my handwritten recipe card of Ann's recipe but during a quick search I found this Paula Deen version that had one difference:  cheddar cheese.  Hmmmm.... cheese is always a good thing.  I like both versions, can't even pick a favorite, so I think my next time making this dish will all depend on my mood and if I have the cheese handy in the fridge or not.

The recipe is wonderful served piping hot or room temp, and heats up beautifully in the microwave.

Click for the recipe:

Paula Deen's Hot Chicken Salad

 Nutrition per 3/4 cup serving:  Calories:  381.6;    Protein:  20.2;   Carbs:   2.8;   Fat 32;  Fiber:  2.

 

 

 

 

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Baked Mostaccioli w/ All Day Slow Cooker/Crockpot Meat Sauce

 

 There's nothing like pasta, the ultimate comfort food, to feed a small army of company at the holidays.  It's tasty, it's easy, and it can usually be made ahead, all pluses in my book so that I can serve a delicious meal to my friends and family but also be able to relax on the day of and during the party instead of running myself ragged, cooking. 

Traditionally at New Year's Eve, I make a big lasagna, but this year I went to the same song, different verse, choosing to created a Baked Mostaccili dish instead. 

Several of my guests plus friends on Facebook asked for the recipe, so this is it:  Glenna's Baked Mostaccioli for a Crowd.  Even though the recipe easily serves 8-10, it can easily be cut in half for a family dinner or can be made as a whole and split into two separate baking dishes, freezing one for later. 

   

Portable Feast for a Crowd: Thanksgiving Turkey (or Chicken) & Dressing in the Slow Cooker

 I've made turkey and dressing in the crockpot before but this time I hit the jackpot for texture, taste, and convenience to feed a crowd.  This recipe got rave reviews at work and easily fed twenty people with enough leftover for a couple of servings for Gene and I later.  I served it with turkey gravy on the side and the my work-mates brought all the fixings:  mashed potates, corn casserole, pumpkin pies, and appetizers.

I'll also make it again, not onThanksgiving, using rotisserie chicken or pork loin as the meat, maybe other dressing/stuffing flavors, but definitely keeping the sauteed veggies, fruit, and nuts.  The recipe can easily be halved or maybe even thirded if you use the "about a" method:  For example:  "about" 1 1/2 cups of diced meat, "about" 1 Tbsp butter and "about" 1 Tbsp olive oil...etc.)

Thanksgiving Sides: Ozarks-style Slow Cooker Dressing/Stuffing

 

One of my favorite Thanksgiving tricks is to throw the dressing/stuffing into the crockpot.  It saves room in the stove, you can fix it and not worry about it, and it cooks up deliciously. Is it "dressing" or is it "stuffing" at your house?  I live in and was raised in southwest Missouri and while we use both terms, my family tends to stick with the southern version:  "dressing" while most of the rest of the country, it's my understanding, usually calls it "stuffing." Either way, it's yummy carb-licious.

Speaking of delicious, my favorite dressing has a couple of extras: chopped sweet apples and Missouri black walnuts in a southern cornbread base. English walnuts are a great option too but black walnuts are native to our American Midwest and more than 65% of those are grown in Missouri, with the largest black walnut processor, Hammons Nut, residing in Stockton, Missouri, just a rock skip from Springfield, Black walnuts are a treat we've grown up having plenty of and loving.  For the uninitiated, like the differnece between cream cheese and goat cheese, black walnuts have all the creaminess of an English walnut but with a little more zip.  One of my dearest memories of my mother was how she would hand-shell bushels of black walnuts through the fall that we kids had scavenged from the woods around our house, and then use them in Christmas cookies and candies.  As a child I took it for granted, as an adult I admire her tenacity.  Hand-shelling nuts is not the most fun job in the world but we loved the final result, for sure!

 
Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffing mix is spiced in a way that goes particularly well with the apple/black walnut combination, I've found. It's slightly sweet and very savory which highlights both the sweetness and savoriness of the fruit and nuts, which seems to me to be the quintessential tastes of fall.

Mrs. Cubbison's, a true American success story, was started by Mrs. Cubbison in 1890's as a bread bakery, then moved to crackers, and eventually to stuffing (dressing).

For tons of Thanksgiving recipes, decorating ideas, and table setting ideas, please go to www.thanksgivingtips.com for photos, recipes, and videos.

 Mrs Cubbison's:  Facebook Page

 

The Best Ever Scalloped Potatoes Recipe

Scallopped Potatoes has always been one of our favorite dishes but as a cook it can be frustrating to make sure that the slices of potato are thin enough and get cooked long enough to make sure they're cooked through to nice and soft.  This recipe addresses so many problems with mediocre scallopped potato recipes.  The potatoes are cubed and pre-boiled on the stove top so the texture is that comforting soft, cheesy, richness that everyone loves.  Plus, by adding herbs to the mix instead of just cream and cheese, the flavor pops in a very 3-D way.  I've never served these potatoes that guests didn't ask for the recipe and tell me how much they love this dish. It is the best scallopped potato recipe I've ever made.

Classic Quiche Lorraine for Breakfast

After all the rain and thunderstorms last night followed by a late night of movie-watching and gloriously sleeping in to a chilly fall morning, eggs seemed to fill the bill of fare this morning.  Not just any eggs, not plain scrambled or even the richness of dipping toast into the rich yolks of fried eggs over easy, but the cheesy, bacony goodness of the classic Quiche Lorraine.  With pre-cooked bacon and previously rolled pie crust in the freezer, shredded parmesan in the fridge, and a couple of green onions in the crisper, it took less than five minutes to beat the eggs along with the other ingredients and pour them into the pie shell--so worth it this morning! 

Copycat Benihana Chicken Fried Rice

 Just like a kid, I love having dinner at Japanese steakhouses like Benihana but sometimes I want the rice and/or veggies without the 1 1/2 hour program and all that food in the different courses.  When I have the desire but not the patience, I make my own at home.  Chicken Fried Rice is a great one-pot meal in the style of Jambalaya or other stove-top one-potters.

Easier and faster than it looks, just think about how quickly those Japanese chefs whip up the fried rice before moving on to the steak/chicken/shrimp entree.  And the leftovers are great for lunch the next day or my work lunchbox.

 

Upside Down Potato, Thyme, & Onion Tart

 One of the best, most useful, things my wonderful cook of a mother taught me as I was growing up was how to think in substitutions. I know that sounds like an odd statement but I have learned in my adulthood that not every home cook has been given the benefit of those skills.  I know many wonderful cooks who, if they want to make a recipe and don't have certain ingredients they go to the store for those specific ingredients without any thought of "Hmmm...what do I have that would work, put my pantry or fridge supples in use, and be more economical than purchasing new items?" 

It doesn't always work but in many cases, it does.  For example, in many chicken, rice, and vegetable casseroles that call for, for example, fresh asparagus, if that's not in season, then 99% of the time, either broccoli or fresh green beans will not only work, but be delicious too.  In the example of this recipe, the red potatoes would make an excellent tart but what I had on hand were Yukon yellows, and they too were delicious.  For cheeses, this recipe calls for gruyere, feta, and mozzarella, so we need something with a bit of a tangy, something creamy, and some binding.  I had asiago (tangy), feta, and provolone (binding) available, and again, they were delicious in this recipe. I wish I had had fresh thyme available, but having only dried at the time, it's a simple matter of using half what the recipe calls for since dried herbs tend to be more intensely flavored (unless they're a million years old).

The next time I make it I may have the red potatoes in the house to use and maybe the fresh thyme too...or perhaps I'll try a little tarragon or rosemary, which would also be fabulous.  I love the combination of grilled onions, potatoes, and herbs:  the dinner trifecta!

Purist Macaroni & Cheese: THREE ingredients

"Mom's Extra Sharp Mac and Cheese" (Click to be linked)

Ran across this recipe when I was searching for a new baked Mac & Cheese recipe to play with. I was intrigued by the lack of a huge list of ingredients or odd spices.  It's simple: macaroni, milk, and cheese. That is LITERALLY macaroni and cheese. I happened to have all three ingredients so I had it in the oven in the time it took to pre-heat the oven.

I admit I was tempted to add salt, pepper, butter, garlic, any number of little extras but I really wanted to see how it would come out just as written. GREAT!, would be the answer to that.  There is no need for salt because of the salt in the cheese, extra would have, in fact, made the dish too salty.  And as for other seasonings, they have their place but not in this particular version of purist Mac & Cheese. I was quite content with the recipe as is, savoring the dimensions of the lovely sharp cheddar on my pasta.

One note about the photos:  I impatiently took the pics (so I could chow down!) pretty quick out of the oven, but within 15 minutes the rest of the milk soaked into the pasta so that it was creamy without being runny.   

The funniest part, to me, is that when I gushed about this recipe to Auntie Miranda, she said "Um. Yeah. That's exactly how your Grandmother taught me to make Mac & Cheese, long before the boxes."   Proof that what once was old is new again! 

Click on the link above for the rest of the details of the recipe.

 

 

Better Than Mom's (Sorry Mom!) Lasagna

 

 

Sorry, Mom, even though you were a fabulous cook, I think in this one instance I beat you at your own game. 

I love lasagna but with only two of us it's something I only get to make when we're having company.  You just can't make a small lasagna!

So for New Year's Eve, that's what I did, although I stepped up a few of the ingredients my Mom used to use, switching out ricotta and cream cheese for the cottage cheese, and using a 50/50 mix of ground beef and country sausage for my Slow Cooker Meat Sauce. 

We were all pretty pleased, patting myself on the back. The result was rich without being overwhelming and not too wet, not to dry, perfect texture. Will be making these changes always from now on.